Comments on: Snow forest

By: Dave

Dave — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 20:06:48 +0000

Yeah, not much melthing here yet… but apparently that’s going to start this weekend. We got another three inches of dry snow yesterday.

By: David Harmon

David Harmon — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 17:30:29 +0000

PS: Down in VA, we got pretty well clobbered over the last week or or so, but it’s already melting back from the edges of things.

By: David Harmon

David Harmon — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 17:28:50 +0000

Reaching the words “downy woodpecker” just two lines above the photo, I at first thought that was what the picture would be… the porc’s curled into just a ball, of deceptively fluffy-looking fur!

By: Dave

Dave — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 03:44:37 +0000

Well, I don’t think they’re at all related, other than the fact that they’re both mammals, but there is a certain convergent evolution at work, no doubt. Old-world porcupines don’t climb trees either; that’s just a New World thing. Some of the South American porcupines even have prehensile tails.

By: Dominic

Dominic — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 08:02:54 +0000

Great photo. If they’re anything like UK hedgehogs (the nearest thing we have to porcupines), they’ll be incredibly agile, a lot more so than they look. Hedgehogs look like lumbering creatures but can whizz up and down all over the place (eg over drystone walls) – although I’ve never seen one climb a tree.

By: Dave

Dave — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 00:31:09 +0000

Hedgehogs are shy? A little surprising considering how well-armed they are. But porcupines do tend to retreat, also — at a fast waddle.

By: jasmine

jasmine — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:32:49 +0000

What a delight. it always cheers me up when I see unexpected wildlife. A fox crossing a field, or a deer… We don’t have porcupines here but I did have a guest hedgehog for a while before it decided that other gardens had more to offer. So shy :)

By: Dave

Dave — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 02:19:26 +0000

Thanks for stopping by. I’m glad you liked the photos.

By: Dave

Dave — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 02:18:52 +0000

Hi. Hollow trees are favored den spots, but so are cave-like spaces under boulders or houses. I had a porcupine resident in the crawl-space under my house until last spring.

By: Dave

Dave — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 02:17:14 +0000

I don’t know how much porcupines experience the cold. The North American porcupine is a very hardy species, and they have a thick layer of fat.